Perfect Valentine’s Day Cost

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, which means most people that are in a relationship will start to make plans. But how much will you spend on average to have a great Valentine’s day?

Saint Valentine’s Day, The Feast of Valentine or Valentine’s Day commemorates St. Dwynwen, the saint patron of Welsh lovers, and it is celebrated on 14 February.

Dinner, chocolates, cards, flowers, gifts … all that just for a really nice Valentine’s Day. According to the National Retail Federation, people will spend around $17.6 billion on this day, and around $10.4 billion of that will go on gifts.

Another NRF survey states that the average cost for a perfect Valentine’s Day goes from $126 to $218.

If you think that $218 is much for such a day, believe me, that it is a bargain compared to some other Valentine’s Day gifts. For example, the Vermont Teddy Bear also named “The World’s Most Expensive Valentine’s Day Teddy Bear”, costs $30,000 and it consists of a normal oversized bear with a 5.9-carat diamond ring.

Candy Sales

This year, based on last year’s activity, more than 143 million pounds of candy will be sold in the U.S. for Valentine’s Day. From $1.5 billion worth of candies, about 60% will be on chocolate-flavored sweets, around 86 million pounds. This means that each couple will spend around $21 on candies.

Flowers

According to the Society of American Florists, nearly 200 million roses are produced for Valentine’s Day. Colombia sends most of them, approximately 12% of the flowers. Normally, the average price for a dozen long-stemmed red roses is $60, but on Valentine’s Day, the prices go up to around $75.

Greeting Cards

Each year, about 144 million Valentine’s Day cards are given around, being the second-largest day for greeting cards, according to Hallmark. Americans spend about $1.1 billion on greeting cards. You get to pay an average of $14 for a greeting card.

Jewelry

According to the NRF, 19% of the celebrants that will give jewelry, will spend together around $4.1 billion. The men who will give jewelry to their loved ones plan to spend on average $197, while women who will buy one expect to spend about $119. You can find at Tiffany, in Valentine’s Day section, about 150 items with prices between $50 and $15,000.

Spa gifts

If you wish to give your loved one a spa gift certificate, you should know that it’s a very busy period, and, according to SpaBooker, during Valentine’s Day week, spas sell almost double that they do in January or March. Depending on the type of package you choose you will pay an average of $64.

Restaurants

On Valentine’s Day almost 50% of those who celebrate plan to go dining at their favorite restaurant, so you should book an early reservation and expect to pay from $60 to $120.

Champagne and Wine

If you choose to celebrate Valentine’s Day you will probably buy a bottle of sparkling wine. That’s why about 1.6 million bottles will be sold all around the US for about $18.5 million.

Dating Services

Between December 26 and February 14 even the subscriptions to the online dating services increase with more than 120%, for about $20 per month.

Should the average working couple in the US spend any money on Valentine’s Day?

Spending a medium amount of money to ensure a really nice celebration of Valentine’s Day will be a great way to revive your relationship and keep it fresh. It will be the best opportunity to plan something special for the two of you. This doesn’t mean that you should turn this into a spending spree. Try to stay within a fixed budget, that will not affect your capability to handle monthly expenses.

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Alec Pow

Alec Pow is a thorough and methodical Financial and Business Analyst with over 15 years of experience in financial statement analysis, Foreign exchange derivative hedging instruments analysis, modeling, and risk management, with a long history of writing for big news publications like Forbes, MSN.com, Washington Post, and many more.